Verde Marketplace: the first B2B marketplace for more nutritious and sustainable food

BELO HORIZONTE, Brazil, Nov. 06, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Verde AgriTech Plc (TSX: “NPK”) (OTCQB: “AMHPF”) ("Verde” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce a new business unit: Verde Marketplace. It will be the first free business-to-business (“B2B”) platform in which farmers can offer, on a large scale, nutrient-rich and sustainably-produced food directly to interested corporate buyers who serve a growing portion of the population and are looking for these types of food.

The platform is accessible to products grown and qualified under one or more of four credentials: Chloride Free (products free of chloride), BioNutrient (nutrient-rich produce), CO₂ Captured and Organic. Verde Marketplace will be open to certified producers irrespective of whether they use Verde’s suite of plant nutrition products.

Verde Marketplace will be launched during the world’s largest coffee event, the Semana Internacional do Café, to be held from November 7^th to 9^th in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. In parallel to that event, the venue will host the Global Coffee Sustainability Conference, where the Company will also be in attendance and promoting its Verde Marketplace.

Verde is increasing its presence in Brazil’s fertilizer market. The greater use of Verde’s fertilizer products has two direct consequences: firstly, it improves the quality of foods because it has nearly 70 trace elements; secondly, it helps the environment in many ways, including an increase in the soil’s capacity to capture CO₂. Until Verde Marketplace was launched, users of Verde’s products would receive little credit for their role in these changes. Now they will be able to offer food to buyers who understand that today’s consumers increasingly value more nutritious food and are concerned about farming’s impact on the environment.

In July 2018, the Company started operations at its processing plant. Its production was sold out for the season (see PR October 17, 2018). For 2019 Verde plans to produce 200,000 tonnes of products. Also in 2019, the Company will start construction of a new processing facility capable of a further 600,000 tonnes per year. The Company’s pre-feasibility study shows a post-tax net present value discounted at 8% of US$1.98 billion and internal rate of return of 290% (see PR November 27, 2017).

Cristiano Veloso, founder and CEO of Verde AgriTech, stated: “The vast majority of sales channels available to farmers value the product’s weight and appearance, but neglect the true nutritional value of food or the consequences that the use of chemical substances can have on human health and soil. Our goal is to change this set of forces, to potentialize the business of farmers and resellers of sustainable products”.

How it works
Verde Marketplace is an online platform where farmers offer food to corporate buyers. The accredited farmer accesses the platform, registers which product it has available to sell and waits for offers from interested parties. Meanwhile the buyer will have a wide range of options and can filter the search according to product, location, date of availability, sellers, and other criteria.

How to participate
Farmers interested in becoming part of the Verde Marketplace must access the site (www.verde.ag), and pre-register. The crop on offer must have or obtain at least one of the four credentials: Chloride Free, BioNutrient, CO₂ Captured, Organic. A technical team will contact the farmer to evaluate if the product offered meets one or more of the criteria and will provide a code/invitation to join the marketplace. The company interested in buying must also pre-register. After completing the form, an invitation code will be sent to the qualified buyer, who will then gain direct access to a growing number of farmers and products.

About Verde AgriTech

Verde AgriTech promotes sustainable and profitable agriculture through the development of its Cerrado Verde Project. Cerrado Verde, located in the heart of Brazil’s largest agricultural market, is the source of a potassium-rich deposit from which the Company intends to produce solutions for crop nutrition, crop protection, soil improvement and increased sustainability.

For additional information please contact:
Cristiano Veloso, President & Chief Executive Officer
Tel: +55 (31) 3245 0205; Email: cv@verdeagritech.com
www.verdeagritech.com | www.supergreensand.com

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Cautionary Language and Forward Looking Statements

All Mineral Reserve and Mineral Resources estimates reported by the Company were estimated in accordance with the Canadian National Instrument 43-101 and the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy, and Petroleum Definition Standards (May 10, 2014). These standards differ significantly from the requirements of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Mineral Resources which are not Mineral Reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability.

This document contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation and "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. This information and these statements, referred to herein as "forward-looking statements" are made as of the date of this document. Forward-looking statements relate to future events or future performance and reflect current estimates, predictions, expectations or beliefs regarding future events and include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to:

1. the estimated amount and grade of Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves;
2. the PFS representing a viable development option for the Project;
3. estimates of the capital costs of constructing mine facilities and bringing a mine into production, of sustaining capital and the duration of financing payback periods;
4. the estimated amount of future production, both produced and sold; and,
5. estimates of operating costs and total costs, net cash flow, net present value and economic returns from an operating mine.

Any statements that express or involve discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives or future events or performance (often, but not always, using words or phrases such as "expects", "anticipates", "plans", "projects", "estimates", "envisages", "assumes", "intends", "strategy", "goals", "objectives" or variations thereof or stating that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved, or the negative of any of these terms and similar expressions) are not statements of historical fact and may be forward-looking statements.

All forward-looking statements are based on Verde's or its consultants' current beliefs as well as various assumptions made by them and information currently available to them. The most significant assumptions are set forth above, but generally these assumptions include:

1. the presence of and continuity of resources and reserves at the Project at estimated grades;
2. the geotechnical and metallurgical characteristics of rock conforming to sampled results; including the quantities of water and the quality of the water that must be diverted or treated during mining operations;
3. the capacities and durability of various machinery and equipment;
4. the availability of personnel, machinery and equipment at estimated prices and within the estimated delivery times;
5. currency exchange rates;
6. Super Greensand® sales prices, market size and exchange rate assumed;
7. appropriate discount rates applied to the cash flows in the economic analysis;
8. tax rates and royalty rates applicable to the proposed mining operation;
9. the availability of acceptable financing under assumed structure and costs;
10. anticipated mining losses and dilution;
11. reasonable contingency requirements;
12. success in realizing proposed operations;
13. receipt of permits and other regulatory approvals on acceptable terms; and
14. the fulfilment of environmental assessment commitments and arrangements with local communities.

Although management considers these assumptions to be reasonable based on information currently available to it, they may prove to be incorrect. Many forward-looking statements are made assuming the correctness of other forward looking statements, such as statements of net present value and internal rates of return, which are based on most of the other forward-looking statements and assumptions herein. The cost information is also prepared using current values, but the time for incurring the costs will be in the future and it is assumed costs will remain stable over the relevant period.

By their very nature, forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties, both general and specific, and risks exist that estimates, forecasts, projections and other forward-looking statements will not be achieved or that assumptions do not reflect future experience. We caution readers not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements as a number of important factors could cause the actual outcomes to differ materially from the beliefs, plans, objectives, expectations, anticipations, estimates assumptions and intentions expressed in such forward-looking statements. These risk factors may be generally stated as the risk that the assumptions and estimates expressed above do not occur as forecast, but specifically include, without limitation: risks relating to variations in the mineral content within the material identified as Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves from that predicted; variations in rates of recovery and extraction; the geotechnical characteristics of the rock mined or through which infrastructure is built differing from that predicted, the quantity of water that will need to be diverted or treated during mining operations being different from what is expected to be encountered during mining operations or post closure, or the rate of flow of the water being different; developments in world metals markets; risks relating to fluctuations in the Brazilian Real relative to the Canadian dollar; increases in the estimated capital and operating costs or unanticipated costs; difficulties attracting the necessary work force; increases in financing costs or adverse changes to the terms of available financing, if any; tax rates or royalties being greater than assumed; changes in development or mining plans due to changes in logistical, technical or other factors; changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined; risks relating to receipt of regulatory approvals; delays in stakeholder negotiations; changes in regulations applying to the development, operation, and closure of mining operations from what currently exists; the effects of competition in the markets in which Verde operates; operational and infrastructure risks and the additional risks described in Verde's Annual Information Form filed with SEDAR in Canada (available at www.sedar.com ) for the year ended December 31, 2016. Verde cautions that the foregoing list of factors that may affect future results is not exhaustive.

When relying on our forward-looking statements to make decisions with respect to Verde, investors and others should carefully consider the foregoing factors and other uncertainties and potential events. Verde does not undertake to update any forward-looking statement, whether written or oral, that may be made from time to time by Verde or on our behalf, except as required by law.